Ironic twist
Published: 4/17/2008 12:12 PM
Last Modified: 4/17/2008 12:12 PM
I don't know if it's fair to call this the C.M. Newton model or not. But at first glimpse, that appears to be the plan Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder followed in appointing Travis Ford as the school's new men's basketball coach.
In 1989, Newton was Kentucky's newly appointed athletic director after successful stint as basketball coach at Alabama and Vanderbilt. Newton returned to his alma mater, Kentucky, as AD and had to make a coaching change with the men's basketball program. Eddie Sutton was out and Newton brought in Rick Pitino, who returned the Wildcats to lofty heights.
Does this sound familiar? Holder, a successful golf coach at OSU, takes over as the school's AD. The men's basketball program under a Sutton (Sean) is in a rut, according to some, and Holder deems it necessary to make a change. While Holder did not land his first wish in Bill Self, the OSU AD did land a Pitino protégé in Ford.
If Ford can transform OSU's basketball fortunes like Pitino did at Kentucky, the divided fan base will be unified and a new chapter of OSU hardwood history will be written.
--- Matt Doyle
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
